Now Is The Time to Start Putting Your Home Up For Sale.

Real estate agents will tell you that the spring is the best time to list your home for sale. This is because it starts to warm up a little bit, and for some reason, real estate is one people’s minds. So, what are you waitng for? Are you scared to sell your home, because you don’t think you’ll get enough for it? Well, here are a few suggestions to help sell your home quick and maximize your sale price.

1. Get a Realtor: I know, you don’t want to pay the high commission fee, but it is worth it if you find a hard-working real estate agent. Get a referral from a friend, and I suggest not USING your friend. They won’t take you seriously enough. Using a real estate agent has said to sell homes faster and at a higher price than FSBO.

2. Make Cosmetic Renovations: Your house MUST have curb appeal. Make sure the lawn is manicured and consider putting a fresh coat of exterior paint on the house. On the interior, easy stuff to replace that makes the place look 10 times better is paint, flooring, base/trim, ceiling fans, and interior doors. If you really want the place to shine, remodel your kitchen and bathrooms. Younger couples are suckers for nice looking kitchens and bathrooms.

3. Make sure the house is not full of clutter: You want the buyer to be able to visualize themselves and their furniture in your home. If you have too much furniture, sell some of it. Clean out your garage and have a garage sale. Whatever makes your home look cleaner and less cluttered, do it!

4. Have your agent list the property on Realtor.com and put six pictures in the listing. This will give your home exposure around the world rather than locally.

5. List the house on Craigslist. It’s free to make a classified ad on Craiglist for your home! You can’t get better than free! And they’ll let you upload up to 4 photos for free!

Be flexible and act like a salesman when selling your home. People will always make bids lower than your asking price. That’s why you ask higher than you really want to get for your home. The better thing to do is advertise that you’ll pay for the closing costs or make up to a certain amount of money in repairs to the home or throw in a home warranty. People like it when they feel like they are getting something for free or added into the price of the home. Make sure that you entertain all offers unless they are ridiculous. If you find yourself rejecting every offer, then you probably aren’t ready to move yet. The time is now, so don’t miss out on putting your home up for sale if you’ve been thinking about doing it all winter. If any of you have any more tips or tricks that have helped you in the past, post them in a comment. I’d love to hear them.

Erik FolgateErik and his wife, Lindzee, live in Orlando, Florida with a baby boy on the way. Erik works as an account manager for a marketing company, and considers counseling friends, family and the readers of Money Crashers his personal ministry to others. Erik became passionate about personal finance and helping others make wise financial decisions after racking up over $20k in credit card and student loan debt within the first two years of college.

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